Pubdate: Thu, 18 May 2006 Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB) Copyright: 2006 The Edmonton Journal Contact: http://www.canada.com/edmonton/edmontonjournal/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134 Author: Chris Purdy, The Edmonton Journal Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine) DRUG TRAFFICKERS JAILED FOR GANG-RELATED KIDNAPPING AND EXTORTION $60,000 Ransom Demanded To Settle Feud Over City's Drug Trade EDMONTON - The last of eight men arrested in a gang-related kidnapping and extortion case have been sentenced to prison. On Wednesday, Court of Queen's Bench Justice Eric Macklin said the "egregious and heinous" crime erupted during a feud over the city's drug trade. He accepted a joint recommendation by lawyers and sentenced Colin Struth, 30, to six years on a charge of kidnapping with a firearm. Justin Davis, 22, pleaded guilty to unlawful confinement and obstructing justice. Macklin sentenced him to two years. The pair were associates of the Crazy Dragon Killers gang, which is extensively involved in cocaine trafficking through the use of "dial-a-dopers," said Crown prosecutor Michelle Doyle. She said the group planned the kidnapping to demand ransom or compensation from the rival White Boy Posse, who were interfering with the Killers' trafficking business by ramming cars of their dial-a-dopers. In October 2004, two men were grabbed from a Devon home and used to lure a high-ranking Posse member, Ryan Brodie, to an Edmonton apartment, said Doyle. A 13-year-old babysitter and two infants were confined in a bedroom as Brodie and the others were beaten. Some were stripped down to their underwear, pepper-sprayed, tied up and blindfolded. The babysitter was forced to write her name and address on a piece of paper, then given $360 to keep silent. The Killers tried to negotiate a $60,000 ransom for Brodie by threatening to cut off his fingers with a cleaver. Police later arrested several suspects at the Rest E-Z Motel on Stony Plain Road. Over the next five months, investigators intercepted hundreds of phone calls from the Edmonton Remand Centre aimed at convincing the victims to recant their statements to police. Two men considered the instigators of the crime were sentenced in the case last year. Tavis MacKinnon, 22, was handed eight years in prison for kidnapping with a firearm. David Tran, 21, received six years for the same offence. - --- MAP posted-by: SHeath(DPF Florida)